Drake and Rooster - domestic drama

[lllisalllisa]

I had 11 hens and 1 bantam rooster who ruled his girls. They are now almost a year old. 6 months ago, someone gave me 2 Indian Runner ducklings. All was well as long as the rooster was in charge. Now the male duck is twice the size of the rooster and he spends his days chasing the rooster. Luckily the roo can fly and has lots of safe places but I want them to live in harmony. When I let them all free range - Splash the drake chases Twiggy the roo all over the yard. Twiggy doesn't try to fly up out of the way and if I block Splash, Twiggy stops and waits for the chase again. I can't figure out if this is aggression or a game they both enjoy. Twiggy is definitely faster and could get away if he wanted to. Splash has only 'caught' Twiggy a few times - no damage done - just lots of noise.

Should I let them work it out? Will it eventually stop since both are adolescents.

 

[RulingTheRoost]

I had 11 hens and 1 bantam rooster who ruled his girls. They are now almost a year old. 6 months ago, someone gave me 2 Indian Runner ducklings. All was well as long as the rooster was in charge. Now the male duck is twice the size of the rooster and he spends his days chasing the rooster. Luckily the roo can fly and has lots of safe places but I want them to live in harmony. When I let them all free range - Splash the drake chases Twiggy the roo all over the yard. Twiggy doesn't try to fly up out of the way and if I block Splash, Twiggy stops and waits for the chase again. I can't figure out if this is aggression or a game they both enjoy. Twiggy is definitely faster and could get away if he wanted to. Splash has only 'caught' Twiggy a few times - no damage done - just lots of noise.

Should I let them work it out? Will it eventually stop since both are adolescents.

To be honest, I'm not very sure. As long as there are no injuries, I suppose it's ok although I'd monitor their behavior towards each other as they become adults. If they seem to be more aggressive, my advice is to separate them by a fence or a pen. Hope everything works out